Hitherto, various kinds of ID card have been issued and used in various fields. Since these cards are closely related to the transaction of money, it is essential to improve safety in the use of the cards. For this reason, various countermeasures have been taken, for example, the adoption of code number system for the identification of each individual user, the verification of fingerprints, the introduction of identification photographs, etc. Among these, the introduction of identification photographs is superior in terms of human interface and cost, and ID cards with identification photographs buried therein have been made. However, this type of ID card involves a manual operation and hence needs much time for the making thereof.
To cope with this problem, the following proposals have heretofore been made:
(1) A user's portrait is photographed with a video camera, together with symbols, for example, the user's name, and these images are synthesized and recorded by means of a video printer to thereby make an ID card with the user's portrait and his/her name or the like recorded thereon (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 63-71399). PA1 (2) A part of a card is provided with a single dye recording layer containing a polyester resin material and a thermosetting resin material, and an ink film having a dye layer formed thereon by successively coating it with a plurality of heat-migratory dyes of different colors is attached to the dye recording layer using pressure with a thermal head, thereby recording a full-color image on the card (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 64-4368). PA1 (3) The transfer film used is judged to be a sublimation transfer film or a thermal transfer film, and the quantity of energy applied by a thermal head is controlled in accordance with the kind of transfer film, thereby enabling a single recording apparatus to effect recording with both a sublimation dye and a fused ink (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open (KOKAI) 63-296966).
However, the prior art (1) is adapted for black and white images and cannot meet the recently increasing demand for full-color identification photographs. In the prior art (2), although color identification photographs are available, it only discloses the formation of cards with color images and cannot meet delicate demands in the making of ID cards, such as a demand for the making of a color ID card with a full-color identification photograph and a black and white image of the user's name or other symbols. The prior art (3) only discloses the technique by which sublimation transfer that is suitable for gradation expression and thermal transfer that is suitable for black and white expression are effected by use of a single recording apparatus, but it discloses no specific method of applying the technique to an object such as an ID card. Such a method has heretofore been difficult to realize.
When there are a large amount of data about images such as identification photographs and data about the attributes of each individual, it is desired to be capable of joining together each individual and his/her identification photograph accurately and printing out these data efficiently to issue ID cards. However, no technique has yet been developed to meet such request.
Further, since no forgery prevention measures are taken to conventional ID card issuing systems, there is a danger that ID cards may be forged. It is necessary in order to adopt a forgery prevention measure to carry out some forgery prevention processing as a post-processing that is carried out after an image has been output onto a card substrate, and this additional processing lengthens the time needed for the making of ID cards, resulting in a rise in the cost.
In addition, paper ID cards are generally used, for example, an identification card that is formed by attaching a photograph to a sheet of paper and writing thereon attribute data, e.g., name, employee number, etc. In the case of such paper ID cards, a tally seal is finally put on each card thus prepared as the issuer's acknowledgment seal to prevent falsification.
These days, however, it is general practice to form all kinds of card into plastic cards as seen in cash cards, credit cards, etc., so that when cards for various kinds of identification or certificate, which have heretofore been made of paper, are formed into plastic cards, it becomes impossible to put an acknowledgment seal as a tally seal, as in the case of the conventional paper cards, because of the differences in thickness, material and so forth. Accordingly, such plastic cards with identification photographs but no tally seal have no falsification prevention processing taken thereto after the identification photograph processing. Therefore, if such a plastic card is falsified by replacing the identification photograph with another, it may be impossible to identify this card as a falsified one.
ID cards which are spread in the form of membership cards, cash cards, credit cards, etc. may be roughly divided into two types: one in which the material, shape and so forth are not restricted, and the other in which the external dimension, structure, etc. are strictly specified so that interchangeability is available for various kinds of card processing apparatus, as in the case of magnetic cards, IC cards, etc. Items that are specified in regard to credit cards, for example, include the material, shape, dimensions and physical properties of cards, the position, shape and dimensions of embossed characters, the position, shape, dimensions and physical properties of magnetic stripes, and so forth. In actuality, such ID cards are issued by printing image data, e.g., a pattern, identification photograph, etc., and attribute data, e.g., an embossed pattern, name label, etc. on blank cards by use of a card processing machine.
FIGS. 23(A) to 23(D) illustrate conventional ID card issuing methods, respectively. In the case of FIG. 23(A), an identification photograph P and a name label L are set at predetermined positions, respectively, on a blank card, and this card is processed by means of a commercially available laminator, thereby issuing an ID card in a simple way. In the case of FIG. 23(B), after an identification photograph P is fitted in and stuck to a recess H provided in the surface of a blank card by a manual operation, this identification photograph P is sealed with a covering film F to protect it, and subsequently attribute data, e.g., an embossed pattern E, name label L, etc., is recorded on the card. In the case of FIG. 23(C), with an original R for a blank card prepared in advance, data is engraved on a sculpture area S of the card body by use of an engraver at the same time as the original R is read, thereby reproducing on the card the same photograph and/or character data as those on the original. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 23(D), an identification photograph P or the like, which is to be reproduced, is input through a video camera or a scanner in advance, while character data, e.g., attribute information T, is also prepared and stored in a floppy disk or the like, and the image data and the attribute data are processed by use of a data editor comprising a personal computer serving as a main component, interface means, etc., and then output onto a blank card by a color printer.
The issuing methods shown in FIGS. 23(A) and 23(B) are suitable for ID cards such as membership cards, for which restrictions are not strict in comparison to other type of ID card, while the issuing methods shown in FIGS. 23(C) and 23(D) are employed to make ID cards such as various kinds of cash card and credit card, which need to conform to the specifications.
In the case of the issuing methods shown in FIGS. 23(A) and 23(B), in which processing is carried out in a simple way, there are no strict restrictions on the material, shape and so forth of blank cards themselves, and for this reason these methods have the shortcoming that a forged card is readily made simply by changing the identification photograph or altering the print of attribute data. The issuing methods shown in FIGS. 23(C) and 23(D), which involve strict restrictions on blank cards themselves, also suffer from the disadvantage that as long as the specifications for the shape, material, etc. of blank cards are met, even cards which are different from normal ones in design or lot, for example, are undesirably printed by the card processing machine without being discriminated from the correct ones. For this reason, there is a danger that cards which are not conformable to the purpose of the production may be undesirably issued without permission, and no prevention measures can be taken in regard to such undesired issuing of cards in the present state of art.
The present invention aims at solving the above-described problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ID card issuing system which is capable of accurately matching a plurality of pieces of information and of recording full-color images with high mass-productivity.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce loss of time and cost due to the forgery prevention processing and to issue ID cards of high security.
It is still another object of the present invention to prevent the falsification of a card with an identification photograph attached thereto.
It is a further object of the present invention to prevent the making of forged cards and the undesired issue of cards which are not conformable to the production purpose.